The Fallacy of Free Will

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. – Romans 1:26-27 ESV

What happens when man abandons the truth of God for “the lie?” The lie is that God does not exist at all or that He is a figment of man’s fertile imagination. And if the one true God does not exist, then man is free to be the master of his fate and to choose his own moral agenda. With God out of the picture, man can determine what is right and wrong and create his own laws for life.

Three times in this section of Romans 1, Paul uses the phrase, “God gave them up.” Paul is attempting to demonstrate what life looks like when God releases men to pursue and believe “the lie.” Thinking themselves to be wise, their foolish hearts become darkened, and they lose any ability to make decisions based on the wisdom and righteousness of God. In this moral free-for-all, they find themselves believing and practicing every imaginable lifestyle choice.

“Those who turned against God turned everything on its head. For those who forsook the author of nature could not keep to the order of nature.” – Pelagius, Commentary on Romans

Paul refers to women who “exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature,” and he mentions men who “gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another” (Romans 1:26-27 ESV). There are those who attempt to write this off as Paul’s personal opinion. There are others who try to dismiss what Paul says by insinuating that he is only speaking against “improper” homosexual acts, not the act itself. Still others want to believe that Paul is only referring to homosexual acts that were taking place in the context of pagan worship. But these are not the words of Paul; they are the words of God. They are part of the powerful explanation Paul has provided in this letter regarding the gospel of God.

Men are without excuse; they have abandoned the truth about God and His will for mankind. They have ignored His clear revelation of His invisible attributes and divine nature in His creation. Rather than worship God, they have ended up worshiping anything and everything but God. And Paul makes it painfully clear that sinful man always ends up distorting the truth of God. They exchange the natural for the unnatural, what is right for what is wrong, the holy for the unholy, and the will of God for the will of self. They become consumed with passions, all kinds of passions, both good and bad. But the time comes when they can no longer tell the difference, and the lines become blurred. Their consciences become seared, and they lose the ability to discern right from wrong, even becoming rabid defenders of their actions and attitudes.

It doesn't take a biblical scholar to read the words of God recorded in Genesis 1 and to reach a conclusion.

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it.” – Genesis 1:27-28 NLT

They were to bear fruit, to multiply their kind. That is why God created a male and a female. It was together, as man and woman, that they were to fulfill the command of God. Adam could not do it alone. Eve was incapable of procreating on her own. God built the ability to multiply their kind into their very nature and physiology. But man, in his sin, determined a “better way,” a preferred way. Natural passions are replaced by unnatural, ungodly passions. Paul calls them “dishonorable passions.” The Greek word he uses is atimia, and it carries a very graphic connotation. It was “used of the unseemliness and offensiveness of a dead body” (Thayer's Greek Lexicon). It was also used to refer to the dishonorable use of a vessel or container. Bodies were meant to contain life. That is why a dead body is unnatural and offensive to our senses. It is lifeless and no longer operating as intended. The same thing is true of those who are consumed by same-sex attraction. They are no longer operating as God intended, and their acts are unnatural and against the ordained will of God.

But in our day and age, any attempt to make this claim is met with disdain, hatred, cries of bigotry and intolerance, and a violent defense of individual rights and freedoms. But, according to Paul, we should not be surprised. Their foolish hearts are darkened. Claiming to be wise, they boast in their enlightened understanding and progressive outlook on morals and ethics. But they are fools who have “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man” (Romans 1:23 ESV). Of course, Paul was referring to idol worship here, but the real issue is that of man-worship. When the best expression we can come up with for God's revealed power and divine nature is the image of man, we are in trouble. When we make a god out of man, we end up worshiping ourselves, sacrificing truth at the altar of our own corrupt passions and desires. Self-satisfaction and self-gratification consume us, and God releases us to pursue our increasingly perverse passions.

We must not lose sight of the fact that Paul was attempting to explain and expound upon the gospel of God. The good news of Jesus Christ must be displayed against the backdrop of man's darkened, sinful state. Paul was showing that man is in trouble. Without God, things always go from bad to worse. In Paul's estimation, it doesn't matter if you're pagan or pious, immoral or a moral icon of virtue. Without God's glorious gospel, all men ultimately receive “the due penalty for their error” (Romans 1:27 ESV). A man without God is hopeless. Left to his own devices, he will always gravitate toward ungodliness and unrighteousness. But the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed” (Romans 1:16-17 ESV).

Father, You created us and You know what is best for us. But, in our sinful condition, we have determined that we know better. We are like the clay pot telling the potter that he has made a mistake. In our arrogance and ignorance, we have decided that our will is preferable to Yours and so we stubbornly follow our own agendas and rationalize our rebellious behavior as nothing more than our right to free will. But rejecting Your will never results in freedom; it produces slavery to sin. Without Your divine guidance, our passions become self-consuming and self-destructive. The enemy convinces us that self-willed lifestyles are making us god-like, when, in reality, they are making us godless. But the gospel provides an escape from this downward spiral of spiritual and moral enslavement. Through faith in Your Son, we can experience true freedom from sin and the soul-stifling lie of self-rule. Thank You for opening my eyes to the gospel and setting me free from the destructive power of sin. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

The Lie That Leads To Death

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. – Romans 1:24-25 ESV

This whole section of Romans 1 is concerned with the truth versus the lie. In these verses, Paul states that man has “exchanged the truth of God for a lie,” or literally, “the lie”. To understand this passage, we need to define what Paul meant by these two terms. What is the truth of God, and what is it that unrighteous man has suppressed (vs 18)?

Through His creation, God has revealed His eternal power and divine nature to man, so they are without excuse. Nature virtually screams the truth regarding the existence of God. The very fact that men have ended up worshiping the creation rather than the Creator reveals that man recognizes the existence of a powerful source outside of himself, but has chosen to exchange “worshiping the glorious, ever-living God” to worship “idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.” (Romans 1:23 NLT). The truth to which Paul refers in this opening chapter is the reality of God's existence.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. – Romans 1:19 ESV

Because man has rejected the truth regarding God’s existence, it is virtually impossible for him to accept the need for a Savior sent from God for his salvation. Ignorance of or disbelief in God's existence ultimately leads to a refusal to accept any kind of divine standard for moral conduct; morality becomes highly subjective and relativistic. Each man ends up doing what is right in his own eyes. As a result, they begin to believe “the lie,” either rejecting that God exists at all or replacing the truth about God with something or someone else.

Rather than honoring God as the sovereign Lord of the universe and giving Him thanks for all that He has done for them, they turn their attention elsewhere, relying on their own wisdom to explain their existence and to determine their conduct.

As a result of their rejection of Him, God gives them up. That sounds like such a harsh statement, and comes across as some form of divine abandonment. The Greek word is paradidōmi, and it means “to give into the hands (of another)” or “to give over into (one's) power or use.” In a way, this simply means that God releases them to pursue and believe “the lie.” He allows men to rely on their own wisdom and darkened hearts. In this sense, His wrath is less active than passive. He doesn’t abandon them; He allows them to reap what they sow.

Paul had this idea in mind when he wrote to the believers in Galatia.

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. – Galatians 6:7-8 NLT

Three times in this section of Romans 1, Paul uses the phrase “God gave them up.” In these two verses, he describes God giving man up to impurity. Rejecting the truth regarding God's existence ultimately leads to a false conclusion that man is the final arbiter of his fate. It is the wisdom of man, divorced from God, that leads to things like genocide, infanticide, abortion, and virtually all forms of sexual sin and perversion. Highly intelligent people can commit and justify extremely immoral acts. Humanism, as a philosophy of life, is destructive. It can be defined as “a variety of ethical theory and practice that emphasizes reason, scientific inquiry, and human fulfillment in the natural world and often rejects the importance of belief in God” (Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition).

Man ends up worshiping and idolizing man. But in the end, all men are inherently selfish and self-centered. Even our best attempts at living altruistic lives end up being self-serving. When you make man the center of your world, it is difficult, if not impossible, to keep from making that world revolve around yourself and your individual wants and desires. You end up doing what is right in your own eyes and find yourself serving the creature rather than the creator. Not only do you dishonor God, but you eventually dishonor your own body, doing things that God never intended or approved and selfishly fulfilling the lusts of your heart. God releases you to reap what you sow and allows you to experience the negative outcomes of your own myopic and narcissistic lifestyle choices.

We see the reality of these verses all around us. We are surrounded by highly educated and intelligent people living godless lives who have made themselves the sole focus of their worship and attention. Mankind has made a habit of rejecting the one true God and coming up with their own version of the truth. They exchange the truth about God’s existence and sovereignty for the lie that He is irrelevant or replaceable, and the lie always leads to destruction.

Paul will outline some serious consequences of living according to the lie. When reading the following verses, it is tempting to focus on a particular sin, but Paul has a much broader view of man's belief in the lie. He will describe those who reject the truth of God and accept the lie in far-from-flattering terms.

Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. – Romans 1:29-31 NLT

His words should sound familiar because they describe the world we live in. Paul says, “Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done” (Romans 1:28 NLT). And they reaped what they sowed. 

A life lived without God is not a pretty picture because buying into the lie comes with serious consequences. Any man who is left to himself and allowed by God to pursue his own way will ultimately live a life marked by godlessness, unrighteousness, and, in the end, death.

Father, Paul was right, the world is filled with people who have believed “the lie.” They can see the evidence of Your existence all around them but they have become blind to the truth. Their hearts are hardened and their minds have been deceived by the enemy’s constant barrage of blatant lies and half-truths. He has convinced them to worship anything other than You and, as a result, they have left to fend for and care for themselves. Thinking themselves to be wise, they have become fools. And yet, in Your love and mercy, You continue to call the lost back to Yourself. As You have done for centuries, You extend grace and mercy to the rebellious and disobedient, offering them the opportunity to accept the free gift of salvation and spiritual restoration made possible through Your Son’s death on the cross. You allow them to pursue their false gods and, yet, You never completely abandon them. The gift is always available. As Paul told the believers in Rome,“The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NLT). Thank You for this reminder of Your goodness, grace, patience, kindness, and love. Give me a heart to love the lost like You do and never let me forget that, at one point, I too “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25 ESV). Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Protection For Our Affections

15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? – 1 Corinthians 10:15-22 ESV

As far as Paul is concerned, this is all about our affections; it is about what we love and choose to prioritize in our lives. As Paul addresses the issue of idols and meat sacrificed to them, he is not implying that the idols actually represent other gods. In fact, he says that when the pagans offer sacrifices to their idols, they are actually sacrificing to demons. The fact that the gods they worshiped were non-existent did not make their activity any less sinful. They were giving their affections to something they believed existed. They were associating themselves with a god who represented an alternative to the one true God, and they were joining with those who shared their beliefs, participating in worship and the offering of sacrifices together. When they held their feasts, they were doing so with those who were of like mind.

Paul uses the Lord’s Table to illustrate what he means. Paul asks the Corinthians to consider that when they take the cup and the bread together as part of communion, “is it not a participation in the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:16 ESV)? The Lord’s Table was a common celebration and commemoration of their shared belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. When the Israelites made sacrifices to God at the altar in the Tabernacle or Temple, did they not do so with a sense of shared belief in God? And Paul insists that the pagans are doing the very same thing. By participating together in their sacrificial services, feasts, and celebrations, they express their common bond as worshipers of their particular god, whether that god is false or real. And when the Corinthians joined them in their celebrations, they were aligning themselves with the pagan worshipers and their false gods, or, as Paul indicates, demons.

“Paul’s line of reasoning proceeds as follows: Christians who eat the bread at the Lord’s Supper express their solidarity with one another and with Christ. Likewise, Jews who ate the meat of animals offered in the sacrifices of Judaism expressed their solidarity with one another and with the God of Israel. Therefore Christians who eat the meat offered to pagan gods as part of pagan worship express their solidarity with pagans and with the pagan deities.” – Thomas L. Constable, Notes of 1 Corinthians, 2007 Edition

There is a spiritual dimension to virtually everything we do. We are spiritual beings, and there is a spiritual battle taking place all around us, hidden from our view, but as real as the air we breathe. Paul warned the Ephesians about this spiritual war.

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:12 NLT

There is very little in life that is not impacted and influenced by this unseen spiritual conflict. While we may view a particular action or activity as amoral, being neither right nor wrong and not prohibited by God, we need to walk carefully. It is essential that we examine our motives and check our affections. We need to ask ourselves why this activity is so important to us. Would we be unwilling to give it up if the circumstances required it? There were those in the Corinthian church who were eating meat that had been sacrificed to false gods. They were even participating alongside pagan worshipers at the feasts associated with those false gods. But their rationale was that these gods did not exist, so their activity was perfectly acceptable. However, Paul warns them that if their participation caused a brother or sister in Christ to stumble, they were wrong. Not only that, but by joining in the feasts alongside idol worshipers, they were expressing unity with them. To the rest of the world, both pagan and Christian, they appeared to be one with those who worship false gods. And as if that was not bad enough, Paul indicates that they are really associating themselves with demons.

There are many things we are free to do as followers of Jesus Christ. But that does not mean that all of them are things we should do. We are free to read books other than the Bible, but it is imperative that we give thought to the content of the books that we read. As believers, we are free to watch TV and movies, but not every show is one we should expose ourselves to. We need to examine the content and consider the message it sends. There are very few movies that do not have an agenda. The world we live in is heavily influenced by the unseen spiritual battle taking place behind the scenes. Satan will use any resource available to him to influence our affections and diminish our dedication to God.

It always goes back to our affections. When God commanded the Israelites to have no other gods but Him, He was not suggesting that these gods actually existed. He simply knew that He had wired mankind for worship. God’s intention was that humanity share its affections with Him, but men and women are fully capable of giving those affections away.

When the Pharisees asked Jesus to name which was the greatest commandment given by God, He responded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37 ESV). The most daunting challenge we face as Christians involves our affections. Do we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind? The answer is no, because we can’t. We are incapable of doing so. But that does not mean we should not try to make it a high priority in our lives.

The enemy wants to get our minds off of God and to distract our affections from God. He wants our souls to be satisfied by something other than God. There is a spiritual battle taking place all around us, and Satan subtly uses the seemingly innocuous and inconspicuous things of this world to deceive us. Our failure to believe in the demonic realm does not make it non-existent. Just because we don’t see the spiritual warfare taking place all around us doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Because the battle is invisible, we need to arm ourselves with the spiritual weapons God provides. We need spiritual discernment and divine assistance to fight an invisible yet real battle. That is why Paul told the Ephesians, “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm” (Ephesians 6:13 NLT).

God offers us protection for our affections and a way of escape from every temptation.

God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. – 1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT

Father, we live under constant siege from the enemy, but sometimes act as if the battle is not even real. Through compromise and complacency, we make alliances with the enemy and allow his subtle lies to dilute our faith and diminish our dependence on You. If we refuse to spend time in Your Word, we will be easy prey for the enemy’s deception. We will find ourselves defenseless and powerless to resist his temptations. He loves to deceive us and cause us to compromise our convictions. He doesn’t waste his time trying to get us to walk away from the faith; he simply tries to make our faith a non-factor in the way we walk. But You have called us to live set-apart lives that reflect Your character and demonstrate the Spirit’s power within us. Don’t allow us to compromise or grow complacent. Keep us alert to the enemy’s lies and more determined than ever to live according to the truth of Your Word. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Our Spiritual Lie Detector.

But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. – 1 John 2:27 NLT

Jesus called Satan the father of lies. Paul, when confronting a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus, called him “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10 ESV). In the days immediately after Pentecost, Peter had to confront one of the new converts for falsely claiming to have sold land and given all the proceeds to the church. “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?” (Acts 5:3 ESV). Paul had to warn the Colossian believers, “Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ” (Colossians 2:8 NLT). Peter made it clear that false teachers would be a constant threat to the church. “But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered” (2 Peter 2:1-2 NLT). The reality is that, as Christians, we are surrounded by lies and constantly tempted to buy into the subtle deceptions of the enemy. It can become increasingly more difficult to tell the difference between what is true and what is false. But we have been given a reliable resource for determining right from wrong and truth from fiction. Jesus promised that when He left, He would not leave us alone, but would send the very Spirit of God to fill us and help us. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13 NLT). John reminds us that the Holy Spirit lives within us, and He is not only our comforter and helper, He is our source of all truth. He can help discern what is a lie of the enemy and what we can trust as a word from God. We have not been left defenseless. We have been given the Spirit of God and therefore, we can understand the will and the mind of God. “For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us” (1 Corinthians 2:10-12 NLT). 

John reminds us that we have the very Spirit of God living within us. He indwells us. He is our resident lie detector, providing us with the ability to know what is true and what is false. But we have to listen to Him. We have to seek His help and want to hear what He has to say. But the temptation is to ignore His promptings and to refuse to listen to His voice. One of the primary tools the Spirit uses to speak to us is the Word of God, the Bible. As we read it, He helps us understand it and apply it to our lives. He gives us the capacity to hear the voice of God through the written Word of God. But if we don't read it, He can't speak to us through it. It is impossible for Him to apply the truth of God's Word if we refuse to take it in. The temptation we all face as Christians is to allow the philosophies of this world to fill our minds and deceive us with a reasonable sounding variation of the truth. Our sinful flesh, always at battle with the Spirit within us, constantly urges us to listen to its selfish demands and give in to its subtle suggestions. And unless we are filling our minds with the Word and listening to the voice of the Spirit, we will find ourselves deceived and distracted by the lies of the enemy. So Paul tells us, “let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions” (Galatians 5:16-17 NLT). As John warned earlier, we are constantly faced with the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of our possessions and accomplishments. We need the Holy Spirit to see the danger we face and to give us the strength we need to stay in step with the truth. Left to our own devices, we will fail. But with the Spirit's help, we can live discerning and disciplined lives. “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives” (Galatians 5:25 NLT). God didn't leave us defenseless. But we must learn to live dependent upon the Spirit if we are going to live powerfully and profitably in this life.

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. – 1 John 2:22-23 ESV

The world in which we live is diametrically opposed to God. Although it was created by Him, it vehemently resists His sovereign right to rule and reign. It rejects His Son as King and denies in any way that men are subjects of His Kingdom. In his letter, John goes out of his way to present Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah. But he wants his readers to know that Jesus was far more than just a man who lived a good life and taught strong moral truths. He was “that which was from the beginning” (1 John 1:1 ESV). He was the eternal word of life and was made manifest, made visible, so that men could see Him. Not only that, He was the propitiation for the sins of man. His death satisfied the just demands of a holy God. And now He sits at the right hand of God the Father where He intercedes on our behalf, acting as our advocate or mediator. But the world would have us believe it is all a lie. The god of this world is doing everything in his power to dissuade us of any notion as to Jesus being the Son of God or the Savior of the world. He wants us to reject the very idea that we even need a Savior. To do that, he gets us to doubt the reality of our own sin. Sinless people don't need salvation or a Savior. Rather than confess our sins, Satan would have us deny them. Rather than recognize God's holiness our own sinfulness, Satan would prefer that we measure our righteousness by a more subjective standard. Morality becomes relative and unenforceable. Goodness becomes a personal matter. Right and wrong become totally subjective and subject to interpretation. Isaiah warned about this kind of attitude. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21 ESV). This is the spirit of the antichrist. It is the antithesis of everything for which God stands. No rules. No law. No judgment. No sin. No savior. No hell. And it is all a lie.

John tells his readers, “I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth” (1 John 2:21 ESV). Those to whom he was writing knew the truth regarding Jesus. He was the Son of God. He had come to die on the cross on their behalf. His death had provided them with justification before God. They had enjoyed forgiveness for their sins, a restored relationship with God the Father, and were assured on eternal life. Just hours before His trials and crucifixion, while alone in the garden, Jesus had prayed, “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3 ESV). This is at the heart of eternal life. An intimate knowledge of and belief in Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world, and the Father as the loving source of that invaluable gift. Anyone who teaches anything other than that is not only sorely mistaken, they are deadly wrong. Jesus Himself boldly and categorically claimed, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 ESV). There is no other way. There is no other path. There is no other option. Case closed. End of discussion.

A belief in Jesus that is accompanied by a rejection of sin is nothing less than a lie. A belief in God that does not include His Son as Savior is close, but not good enough. “No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:23 ESV). One of the most important questions Jesus ever asked His disciples is recorded in the gospels. He started out by asking them, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Matthew 16:13 ESV). They provided a number of options, clarifying the range of perceptions held by the common people of the day. But then Jesus posed a question for which the answer remains the most significant one any man or woman will ever have to give. He asked, “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15 ESV). Forget about everybody else. Don't worry about what everyone else is saying. What do you say? Who is Jesus to you? And we know by Jesus response that Peter gave the right answer. He simply stated, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mathew 16:16 ESV). Which is why John could say that anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is a liar. To deny Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, is to deny that He was God. It is to deny that He was sinless. It is to deny that we are sinners. It is to deny that we need saving. It is to deny that God is holy. It is to deny that punishment for sin is possible or even probable. It is to deny the resurrection. It is to deny eternal life and the reality of heaven. And it is to deny the existence of hell. That is the spirit of antichrist. And it is all around us. But we know better. We know Him. We know the truth. We have the light. And we have the life. Let us live like it and love like it. Let us walk as Jesus walked. In the truth of who He is and what He has done.

The Truth About Falsehood.

Isaiah 15-16, 2 Peter 2

They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. – 2 Peter 2:19 ESV

The Israelites were always surrounded by options. When they faced difficulties and trials, there were plenty of places they could turn to for help and hope. If one nation threatened to come against them, there were always other nations with whom they could form alliances and treaties, in the hopes of averting disaster and destruction. But the only problem was that God had intended for them to turn to Him alone for their salvation. They were His people and He was their God. In the book of Isaiah, we see God pronouncing a series of warnings against the nations surrounding Israel. Some of the nations included in God's oracles were Babylon, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Cush, and Egypt. There were nations that would prove to be threats to the safety and security of the people of God through conquest. But there were also nations whose main danger came in the form of false hope. They would prove to be tantalizing tests of Israel's faith, offering them false hope when they found themselves faced with threats to their national security. God wanted the people of Israel to know that He was to be their only source of security. They didn't need to fear the likes of Babylon. But they also didn't need to turn to potential allies like Moab. None of these countries could be trusted because they were God-less. Yes, they had their own gods, but they failed to worship the one true God. They were marked by pride and arrogance. They were characterized by self-sufficiency and had their own stable of man-made gods to which they turned. But God makes it clear that “The people of Moab will worship at their pagan shrines, but it will do them no good. They will cry to the gods in their temples, but no one will be able to save them” (Isaiah 16:12 NLT). So why in the world would the people of God every turn to a nation like that for help? 

What does this passage reveal about God?

God is sovereign and all-powerful. That is one of the primary points of the book of Isaiah. In this list of oracles pronounced by God on the nations, we get a clear picture of God's sovereign hand over the nations. He is more powerful than Babylon. He is more trustworthy than Moab or Egypt. He is greater than the greatest enemy of Israel. In fact, God uses these nations to accomplish His divine will. Not a one of them operates outside of His sovereign plan for mankind. In their pride and arrogance, they envision themselves as free-will agents operating on their own initiative, but they are nothing more than pawns in the hands of God. Isaiah knew of Moab's reputation all too well. “We have heard of the pride of Moab – how proud he is! – of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; as his idle boasting he is not right” (Isaiah 16:6 ESV). But he also knew of Moab's of fate: “the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude and those who remain will be very few and feeble” (Isaiah 16:14 ESV). God would cut Moab down to size, just as He would do to Babylon. There was no reason for the people of God to trust in Moab. That nation would prove to be a false source of hope and help. God was to be their salvation. He was the one to whom they were to turn in times of need.

What does this passage reveal about man?

But the temptation will always exist to seek out false sources of salvation. God's people will always find a steady supply of alternative forms of help and hope. It was as true in the early church as it was in the days of Isaiah. Peter reminds his readers that in the Old Testament “false prophets also arose among the people” (2 Peter 2:1 ESV). But then he adds the warning, “just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1 ESV). In the Old Testament there were always plenty of false prophets who made a habit of offering alternative forms of “truth.” They claimed to speak for God, but were actually contradicting the very words of God. They offered false hope. They gave faulty advice. And in the early days of the New Testament church, there were plenty of false teachers who were guilty of doing the same thing. Peter described them as being driven by sensuality, marked by greed and false words, insatiable for sin, irrational, despising authority, and destined for destruction. He calls them “waterless springs and mists driven by the storm” (2 Peter 2:17 ESV). They are false sources of sustenance. They can't provide what they claim to offer. And yet, there is always the temptation to turn to them as sources of help and hope. Yet Peter warns: “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption” (2 Peter 2:19 ESV).

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

The world in which we live is full of false hope. It offers up a steady diet of false forms of help. As the people of God we are to seek Him only. We are to turn to Him in our times of need. But there will always be the temptation to find other forms of salvation. Peter warns us that those who offer up falsehood “entice unsteady souls” (2 Peter 2:14 ESV). They prey on those who are not grounded in the truth of God. Those who don't know the truth will always be susceptible to falsehood. They will always be easy targets for those who offer up counterfeit gods and alternative sources of hope. That is why Peter spent so much time warning his audience. He wanted them to understand the dangers. He wanted them to seek God alone. In fact, he reminded them, “the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials” (2 Peter 2:9 ESV). We must never lose sight of the fact that God is our sole source of salvation. He is the only place we can turn to for truth. We are surrounded by lies and constantly offered up false forms of hope. But we must place our trust in God alone. He alone can rescue. He alone can save. He alone can provide the help we need as we live out our lives on this planet. “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble” (Psalm 46:1 NLT).

Father, You are my help and hope. Never let me seek salvation from another source. I know I do and for that I ask forgiveness. Keep me coming back to You. Help me to learn that You alone can be trusted. You alone can save. You alone can provide what I need to live the life You have called me to live. Amen